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Lesson 13 From Surah Al -Kahf

Last verses of Surah Kahf

Shaykh Furhan Zubairi

Alhamdulillah last session we were able to cover the meanings of verses 83-98. InshAllah tonight we’ll explore the meanings of verses 99-110, which will bring us to the end of this noble and beautiful Surah. Just as a quick reminder, the last set of verses related the story of Dhul Qarnain, who was an upright and God-conscious ruler who ruled over the entire known world of his time. He was a righteous servant of Allah to whom Allah granted might, power and sovereignty over the world along with knowledge and wisdom. He was a special servant of God. We’re told about his journeys to the east, west, and north as well as his building of a huge wall to prevent Ya’jūj and Ma’jūj from escaping. This story highlighted the fitna and trial of might, power, leadership, and authority and showed us that the way to deal with it is through faith and sincerity. Dhul Qarnain was tested with a lot of wealth and power but it was unable to corrupt him because of his faith and sincerity. The Surah follows the story of Dhul Qarnain with a scene from the Day of Judgment.

Verse 99: And We shall leave them, on that day, to surge over one another like waves. And the trumpet shall be blown, and We shall gather them together.

The first part of this verse is referring to Ya’jūj and Ma’jūj and the second part refers to resurrection, when the Angel Isrāfīl will blow into the horn bringing all creation back to life. On that day, is referring to the day near the end of times when Ya’jūj and Ma’jūj will break through the barrier and surge down the mountains like waves upon humanity destroying everything in their way. As Allah ﷻ tells us in Surah Al-Anbiya, “Until when [the dam of] Gog and Magog has been opened and they, from every elevation, descend…” They will wreak havoc for a period of time known to Allah until they will be destroyed.

As we’ve covered before there will be two instances when the trumpet will be sounded. Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) has appointed the Angel Isrāfīl to blow into the trumpet. This will happen twice. The first time every single thing will be destroyed. The second time every single thing will be brought back to life. This is how the day of Resurrection will start. The sūr, which is a trumpet or a horn, will be blown and all of mankind will rise from their graves and come towards the plain of judgment. That’s what Allah ﷻ is mentioning here in this verse, “And the trumpet shall be blown, and We shall gather them together.”

The Surah then describes a scene from the day of Judgment that’s specific to the non-believers. Those who received the message and consciously chose to reject it and rebel against God and His messengers.

Verse 100-101: And We shall present Hell, on that Day, as an array before the non-believers, those whose eyes were veiled from the remembrance of Me, and could not hear.

Meaning on the Day of Judgment Allah ﷻ will show the non-believers Hell Fire, exposing it to them so that they can see it with their own eyes. They will see it with their own eyes and hear its raging and frightening sounds even before entering it. Allah then describes the non-believers with 3 characteristics, which are essentially three reasons why they will be punished in the hereafter:

1) “Those whose eyes were veiled from the remembrance of Me, and could not hear.” They weren’t able to understand the truth when it was presented to them because they were spiritually blind and deaf. They were blind to the signs of Allah’s existence and power all around them spread throughout the universe, so they never thought or reflected over them. On top of that, they weren’t able to understand what was being recited to them. Meaning, they consciously chose to ignore the message and turn away from it. Here Allah is contrasting their condition in the hereafter to their condition in the life of this world. In this world, they chose to turn away from belief in the fire and in the hereafter, they won’t have the option to turn away. The veil over their eyes will be removed and they will see the consequences of their choice.

2) The second is that they worshipped others besides Allah.

Verse 102: Do those who disbelieve reckon that they may take My servants as protectors apart from Me? Truly We have prepared Hell as a welcome for the disbelievers!

Allah is scolding them and showing them their mistake. Did they really think or believe that they could take created beings or inanimate objects as protectors apart from Me? Did they really believe that worshipping idols, angels or people would benefit them or help them in any way? There’s no help or protection except with Allah, who deserves to be worshipped alone without any partners. As Allah ﷻ says in Surah Maryam, “No! Those “gods” will deny their worship of them and will be against them opponents [on the Day of Judgment].” Allah then tells us that their punishment is Jahannam, which has been prepared as a resting place for them. “Truly We have prepared Hell as a welcome for the disbelievers!”

3) The third quality that the non-believers are described with is that they are fools for thinking that their actions in this world will be of any benefit to them in the Hereafter.

Verse 103-104: Say, “Shall We inform you who are the greatest losers in respect to their deeds? Those whose efforts go astray in the life of this world, while they think that they are virtuous in their works.

In this verse, Allah ﷻ is addressing the Prophet ﷺ directly and he’s telling him to pose this question to the non-believers. “Shall We inform you who are the greatest losers in respect to their deeds?” Do you want to know who the greatest and biggest losers are with respect to their deeds? They are the ones who did good deeds and put in effort, but all of it went to waste. Those individuals who were misguided in the life of this world so their actions were guided by their wants, desires, and pleasures. Their actions were misplaced and not guided by faith in Allah. The reason why all of their efforts will go to waste is their disbelief or absence of faith. As Allah says,

Verse 105-106: They are those who disbelieve in the signs of their Lord, and in the meeting with Him. So their deeds have gone to waste, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign them no weight. That is their recompense, the Jahannam, for having disbelieved and for having taken My signs and My messengers in mockery.

The greatest losers with respect to their deeds are those who reject the signs of Allah in this world. Those who refuse to accept the oneness, might, power and magnificence of Allah, those who refuse to believe in life after death and accountability. Their deeds will go to waste and on the Day of Judgment, they won’t have any weight. We know from multiple verses and narrations that our deeds are going to be weighed on the Day of Judgment. And on the Day of Judgment, it’s not about the number of deeds but the quality. That’s why on the Day of Judgment our deeds won’t be counted but they will be weighed. It could be that the weight of one action or deed is more than a thousand other deeds.

Those actions that are devoid of faith and sincerity will have no weight whatsoever. As Allah ﷻ says in Surah Al-Furqān, “And We will regard what they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed.” Their recompense is the fire of Jahannam, and that is the ultimate justice and fairness. They get punishment as recompense because of their rejection and disbelief and mockery of Allah’s signs and His messengers. Allah ﷻ then contrasts the punishment of the non-believers with the reward of the believers in Paradise.

Verse 107-108: Those who believe and perform righteous deeds, theirs shall be the Gardens of Paradise as a welcome. Abiding therein forever, they don’t seek any change from it.

Just as Hell is a “welcome” for the non-believers, Paradise is a true “welcome” for the believers. Meaning, those who believe in the existence and oneness of Allah, believe in the Prophet ﷺ and life after death and that faith expresses itself through their actions, their reward will be Gardens of Paradise. Again we see this formula being mentioned, faith + righteous deeds. This is the simple formula to achieve success in this world and the next. Our faith has to be real and practical; it has to translate into action. If we do so then our reward will be Jannah al-Firdaws, which is the highest and most virtuous level of Paradise. The Prophet ﷺ said, “When you ask Allah for Paradise ask Him for Al-Firdaws. It is the highest level of Paradise, the middle of Paradise and the rivers of Paradise flow from it.”

  • إذا سألتم الله الجنة، فاسألوه الفردوس، فإنه أعلى الجنة، و أوسط الجنة، و منها تفجر أنهار الدنة.

In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ said, “In Paradise, there are a hundred levels, what is between every two levels is like what is between the heavens and the earth. Al-Firdaws is its highest level, and from it the four rivers of Paradise are made to flow forth. So when you ask Allah, ask Him for Al-Firdaws.”

  • “ فِي الْجَنَّةِ مِائَةُ دَرَجَةٍ مَا بَيْنَ كُلِّ دَرَجَتَيْنِ كَمَا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ وَالْفِرْدَوْسُ أَعْلاَهَا دَرَجَةً وَمِنْهَا تُفَجَّرُ أَنْهَارُ الْجَنَّةِ الأَرْبَعَةُ وَمِنْ فَوْقِهَا يَكُونُ الْعَرْشُ فَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُ اللَّهَ فَسَلُوهُ الْفِرْدَوْسَ ” .

They will be in Paradise for all of eternity, enjoying all of its pleasures and not wanting or desiring anything other than it. Allah (swt) then tells us about the extent and vastness of His knowledge. That his knowledge is infinite. This is also a description of the greatness and status of the Qur’ān.

Verse 109: Say, “If the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like thereof to replenish it.”

“The words of my Lord” may be a reference to Allah’s infinite knowledge or wisdom or the meanings of the Qur’ān. Meaning that if the oceans were turned into ink and the words of Allah subḥānahu wa ta'āla (glorified and exalted be He) were to be written with this ink, then the ink would run out and the words of Allah (swt) would still be left, even if more ink were to be brought. This is an example to make us understand the vastness of Allah’s knowledge, wisdom, and secrets. This example is being given to make us as human beings recognize the infinite nature of Allah’s knowledge as compared to or finite and limited knowledge.

The ocean is the largest and richest creation known to us as human beings. It takes up more than 70% of the surface of the Earth. And we use ink to document and record our knowledge, which we think is vast and amazing. So Allah gives this example of the ocean as ink being used to write and record His words. The entire ocean is used up and then it’s replenished but the words of Allah are still being written. This example is trying to help us comprehend the difference between the infinite and the finite. “And if all the trees on earth were pens, and if the sea and seven more added to it were ink, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Truly Allah is Mighty, Wise.” This example should allow us to recognize the greatness and magnificence of Allah ﷻ as well as humble us as human beings as well.

We as human beings should never be deceived or fooled by our own intellect and abilities. No matter how much we learn and how advanced we become scientifically and technologically, it’s nothing compared to the infinite knowledge and wisdom of Allah ﷻ. Our knowledge compared to the knowledge of Allah is like a drop of water compared to all the oceans. Allah ﷻ then ends the noble Surah by reminding the Prophet (saw) about humility and us about the path of true salvation.

Verse 110: Say, “I am only a human being like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is one God. So whosoever hopes for the meeting with his Lord, let him perform righteous deeds and make no one a partner with his Lord in worship.

Allah ﷻ is speaking directly to the Prophet ﷺ. He’s telling him to tell his nation, his community, that he is a human being just like them. He’s not an Angel nor is he divine in any way. He eats, drinks, walks, talks and sleeps just like them. The only difference is that he ﷺ receives revelation from above from the Most High. It has been revealed to him that there is only one God, alone without any partners. So whoever believes in the meeting with their Lord, meaning they believe in the last day, resurrection, accountability and judgment. They know that the life of this world is temporary and finite and that the life of the hereafter is eternal and infinite, should “perform righteous deeds and make no one a partner with his Lord in worship.”

Righteous deeds include fulfilling all of our obligations, obeying the commands of Allah and staying away from His prohibitions. It includes all voluntary acts of worship such as praying, fasting, reading Quran, making dua, dhikr and charity. It includes being kind to our parents, spouses, children, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers. It even includes smiling at someone. There are multiple paths of righteousness in Islam.

We’re then reminded to not associate partners with Allah in our worship; to not commit shirk. There are two types of shirk: al-shirk al-akbar and al-shirk al-asghar. Al-Shirk Al-Akbar is associating partners with Allah; it’s an act of disbelief. Al-Shirk Al-Asghar refers to ostentation and showing off or not having sincerity in acts of worship. The Prophet ﷺ referred to ostentation as “the lesser idolatry.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “I do not fear that you will worship the sun, the stars and the moon, but I fear your worshipping other than Allah through ostentation.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “What I fear most for my community is doing things for other than the sake of Allah.” Ibn al-‘Arabi quotes his shaykh, “Let not the hours of your dear life pass away confronting contemporaries and socializing with friends. Watch out! Allah concluded His statement on the following verse…”

Alhamdulillah that brings us to then end of this noble and beautiful Surah. A Surah that has a special and unique status because the Prophet ﷺ encouraged us to recite it specifically on Fridays. Through four stories the Surah focuses on four different types of trials we’re going to face in this world and how to respond to them.

1) The story of the people of the cave represents the trial of faith. And we’re taught that one of the best ways to deal with it is through good company; surrounding ourselves with people of faith and righteousness.

2) The story of the owner of the two gardens is representative of the trial of wealth. And we’re taught the most powerful way to deal with it is by recognizing the reality of the life of this world.

3) The story of Musa (as) with Khidr is representative of the trial of knowledge and the way to deal with it is through seeking knowledge and humility.

4) The last story, the story of Dhul Qarnain is representative of the trial of power. The solution is sincerity and righte

Shaykh Furhan Zubairi serves as the Director of Religious Education at the Institute of Knowledge in Diamond Bar, CA. He regularly delivers khutbahs and lectures at various Islamic Centers and events in southern California.

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    Online Quran Classes

    June 6, 2019 at 8:30 PM

    Masha Allah. very nice and readable article on Sura Kahaf. Every Muslim should at least read this once in a week on Friday. May Allah accept our recitation.

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    June 9, 2019 at 10:53 AM

    Masha’allah this is an amazing read!

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So You Are The Wali, Now What?

Dr Shadee Elmasry

The way most Muslims (as well as conservative Christians and Jews) live, a man asks for a woman’s hand in marriage from the father.

The father is not just a turnstile who has to say yes. He is a “wali” or protector and guardian of his daughter’s rights. So he will be asking some serious questions that would be awkward if the woman had to ask them.

Furthermore, in the Muslim community today esp. in the West, there are many converts that seek out a wali because they have no male relative who is Muslim. In this post, I share some guidelines aimed at the wali in his new role and stories that are useful.

Being a wali is not an honorary role. You’re not just throwing out the first pitch. You’re actually trying to throw curveballs to see whether the proposal checks out or has issues.

Here are some questions and demands a wali should make:

Background check: Call and meet at least four people that were close to the man who has proposed and interview them. There’s no husn al-zann (good opinion) in marriage. As a potential suitor, you are rejected until you prove yourself, much like an application for employment. These days, most people’s background can be found on their social media, so the wali has to spend time scrolling down. Keep scrolling, read the comments, look at the pictures, click on who’s tagged in those pictures. Get a good idea. You are a private investigator *before* the problem happens, not after.

Check financials:  You need to see the financials to make sure they are not in some ridiculous debt or have bad credit such that they can’t even rent an apartment or cover basic needs. You want some evidence that he can fulfill the obligation of maintenance.

Check the educational background or skill set: This is a given. If it’s solid, then it can outweigh lack of funds at this moment.

Check medical records: If this is a stranger, the wali needs medical records. There was once a wealthy, handsome young man that was suave and a seemingly amazing prospect who proposed for a girl who was comparatively of average looks and from a family of very modest means. The mother and daughter were head over heels, but the dad had enough common sense to know something was up.

“Why would he come knocking on our door?,” he asked.

So the father demanded medical records. The guy never produced them. When the dad pressed him, the man admitted, he had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and that’s why he couldn’t find anyone else to marry him.

Now note, there are legitimate cases where people have a past when they have made mistakes. This happens to the best of us, and the door for tawbah (repentance) is open. In those cases, there are organizations that match-make for Muslims with STDs. People should act in a responsible manner and not damage the lives of other humans beings.

Lifestyle: It is your job to check if the two parties have agreed on life essentials such as religious beliefs, where to live, how to school kids, etc?

In-laws: Have you at least met the family of the suitor and spent some time with them to make sure there’s nothing alarming?

Engagement: Contrary to popular understanding, there is such a thing as engagement in Islam. It’s an announcement of a future commitment to marriage. Nothing changes between the fiancees, but nobody is allowed to propose anymore. The purpose of engagement is to give time for both parties to get ready. For example, the groom may want to save up some money, or the girl may be finishing up college. Also, it’s easy to put on a face during the get-to-know process, but it’s hard to fake it over an eight or nine-month period. I remember a story where a young woman was engaged, and four months into the engagement they discovered the young man was still getting to know other women. He basically reserved the girl and then went to check for better options. Needless to say, he was dumped on the spot. Engagements are commonly a few months. I think more than a year is too much.

Legal/Civil:  The marriage should be legal/civil in the country where you will settle. If you accept a Shariah marriage but not a civil one, know that you’re asking for legal complications, especially if a child enters the picture. (Ed. Note- we realize that some countries do not allow legal registration of more than one marriage- if that is a consideration please look at all options to protect your ward. There are ways to get insurance that can be set up.)

Mahr: Get 50% of the dowry upfront (or some decent amount) and whatever is scheduled to be paid later should be written and signed. I’ve seen too many cases where a really nice dowry is “promised” but never produced.

The dowry should be commensurate to current standards depending on the man’s job. For example in our area in America 5, 7, or 10k is a common range.

In sum, there are very few things in life that are as bad as misery in marriage. The wali’s job is to eliminate the bad things that could have been avoided. If that means he has to be demanding and hated for a few months, it’s worth the cost.

It’s preventative medicine.

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Shaykh Hamza Yusuf And The Question of Rebellion In The Islamic Tradition

Dr Usaama al-Azami

Sepoy rebellion, Shaykh Hamza

In recent years, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, a notable Islamic scholar from North America, has gained global prominence by supporting efforts by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to deal with the fallout of the Arab revolutions. The UAE is a Middle Eastern autocracy that has been the chief strategist behind quelling the Arab revolutionary aspiration for accountable government in the region. Shaykh Hamza views himself as helping prevent the region from falling into chaos by supporting one of its influential autocratic states. However, more recently, he has become embroiled in another controversy because of comments he made regarding the Syrian revolution in 2016 that surfaced online earlier this week and for which he has since apologised. I will not discuss these comments directly in this article, but the present piece does have a bearing on the issue of revolution as it addresses the question of how Islamic scholars have traditionally responded to tyranny. Thus, in what follows, I somewhat narrowly focus on another recent recording of Shaykh Hamza that has been published by a third party in the past couple of weeks entitled: “Hamza Yusuf’s response to the criticism for working with Trump administration”. While it was published online at the end of August 2019, the short clip may, in fact, predate the Trump controversy, as it only addresses the more general charge that Shaykh Hamza is supportive of tyrannical governments.

Thus, despite its title, the primary focus of the recording is what the Islamic tradition purportedly says about the duty of Muslims to render virtually unconditional obedience to even the most tyrannical of rulers. In what follows, I argue that Shaykh Hamza’s contention that the Islamic tradition has uniformly called for rendering obedience to tyrannical rule—a contention that he has been repeating for many years—is inaccurate. Indeed, it is so demonstrably inaccurate that one wonders how a scholar as learned as Shaykh Hamza can portray it as the mainstream interpretation of the Islamic tradition rather than as representing a particularly selective reading of fourteen hundred years of scholarship. Rather than rest on this claim, I will attempt to demonstrate this in what follows. (Note: this article was sent to Shaykh Hamza for comment at the beginning of this month, but he has not replied in time for publication.)

Opposing all government vs opposing a government

Shaykh Hamza argues that “the Islamic tradition” demands that one render virtually absolute obedience to one’s rulers. He bases this assertion on a number of grounds, each of which I will address in turn. Firstly, he argues that Islam requires government, because the opposite of having a government would be a state of chaos. This is, however, to mischaracterise the arguments of the majority of mainstream scholars in Islamic history down to the present who, following explicit Qur’anic and Prophetic teachings, opposed supporting tyrannical rulers. None of these scholars ever advocated the removal of government altogether. They only opposed tyranny. For some reason that is difficult to account for, Shaykh Hamza does not, in addressing the arguments of his interlocutors, make the straightforward distinction between opposing tyranny, and opposing the existence of any government at all.

A complex tradition

Rather than support these tyrannical governments, the Islamic tradition provides a variety of responses to how one should oppose such governments, ranging from the more quietist—opposing them only in one’s heart—to the more activist—opposing them through armed rebellion. The majority of later scholars, including masters such as al-Ghazzali (d. 505/1111), Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795/1393), and Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (d. 852/1449) appear to have fallen somewhere between these two poles, advocating rebellion only in limited circumstances, and mostly advising a vocally critical posture towards tyranny. Of course, some early scholars, such as the sanctified member of the Prophetic Household, Sayyiduna Husayn (d. 61/680) had engaged in armed opposition to the tyranny of the Umayyads resulting in his martyrdom. Similarly, the Companion ‘Abdullah b. Zubayr (d. 73/692), grandson of Abu Bakr (d. 13/634), and son of al-Zubayr b. al-‘Awwam (d. 36/656), two of the Ten Companions Promised Paradise, had established a Caliphate based in Makkah that militarily tried to unseat the Umayyad Caliphal counter-claimant.

However, the model of outright military rebellion adopted by these illustrious scholars was generally relinquished in later centuries in favour of other forms of resisting tyranny. This notwithstanding, I will try to show that the principle of vocally resisting tyranny has always remained at the heart of the Islamic tradition contrary to the contentions of Shaykh Hamza. Indeed, I argue that the suggestion that Shaykh Hamza’s work with the UAE, an especially oppressive regime in the Arab world, is somehow backed by the Islamic tradition can only be read as a mischaracterisation of this tradition. He only explicitly cites two scholars from Islamic history to support his contention, namely Shaykhs Ahmad Zarruq (d. 899/1493) and Abu Bakr al-Turtushi (d. 520/1126), both of whom were notable Maliki scholars from the Islamic West. Two scholars of the same legal school, from roughly the same relatively peripheral geographic region, living roughly four hundred years apart, cannot fairly be used to represent the swathe of Islamic views to be found over fourteen hundred years in lands as far-flung as India to the east, Russia to the north, and southern Africa to the south.

What does the tradition actually say?

Let me briefly illustrate the diversity of opinion on this issue within the Islamic tradition by citing several more prominent and more influential figures from the same tradition alongside their very different stances on the issue of how one ought to respond to tyrannical rulers. Most of the Four Imams are in fact reported to have supported rebellion (khuruj) which is, by definition, armed. A good summary of their positions is found in the excellent study in Arabic by Shaykh ‘Abdullah al-Dumayji, who is himself opposed to rebellion, but who notes that outright rebellion against tyrannical rule was in fact encouraged by Abu Hanifa (d. 150/767) and Malik (d. 179/795), and is narrated as one of the legal positions adopted by al-Shafi‘i (d. 204/820) and Ahmad b. Hanbal (d. 241/855). As these scholars’ legal ideas developed and matured into schools of thought, many later adherents also maintained similar positions to those attributed to the founders of these schools. To avoid suggesting that armed rebellion against tyrants was the dominant position of the later Islamic tradition, let me preface this section with a note from Holberg Prize-winning Islamic historian, Michael Cook, who notes in his magisterial study of the doctrine of commanding right and forbidding wrong that “in the face of the delinquency of the ruler, there is a clear mainstream position [in the Islamic tradition]: rebuke is endorsed while [armed] rebellion is rejected.”

But there were also clearly plenty of outliers, or more qualified endorsements of rebellion against tyrants, as well as the frequent disavowal of the obligation to render them any obedience. Thus for the Malikis, one can find Qadi Abu Bakr b. al-‘Arabi (d. 543/1148) who asserts that advocating rebellion against tyrants is the main position of the madhhab; similarly among later Hanafis, one finds Qadi Abu Bakr al-Jassas (d. 370/981); for the Hanbalis, one may cite the positions of the prolific scholars Imam Ibn ‘Aqil (d. 513/1119), Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597/1201), and in a more qualified sense, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali. Among later Shafi‘is, I have found less explicit discussions of rebellion in my limited search, but a prominent Shafi‘i like the influential exegete and theologian al-Fakhr al-Razi (d. 606/1210) makes explicit, contrary to Shaykh Hamza’s claims, that not only is obeying rulers not an obligation, in fact “most of the time it is prohibited, since they command to nothing but tyranny.” This is similar in ways to the stance of other great Shafi‘is such as al-hafiz Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani who notes concerning tyrannical rulers (umara’ al-jawr) that the ulama state that “if it is possible to depose them without fitna and oppression, it is an obligation to do so. Otherwise, it is obligatory to be patient.” It is worth noting that the normative influence of such a statement cited by Ibn Hajar transcends the Shafi‘i school given that it is made in his influential commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari. Once again, contrary to the assertions of Shaykh Hamza, there is nothing to suggest that any of the illustrious scholars who supported rebellion against tyrannical rulers was advocating the anarchist removal of all government. Rather they were explicitly advocating the replacement of a tyrant with a just ruler where this was possible.

Al-Ghazzali on confronting tyrants

A final example may be taken from the writing of Imam al-Ghazzali, an exceptionally influential scholar in the Islamic tradition who Shaykh Hamza particularly admires. On al-Ghazzali, who is generally opposed to rebellion but not other forms of opposition to tyranny, I would like to once again cite the historian Michael Cook. In his previously cited work, after an extensive discussion of al-Ghazzali’s articulation of the doctrine of commanding right and forbidding wrong, Cook concludes (p. 456):

As we have seen, his views on this subject are marked by a certain flirtation with radicalism. In this Ghazzālī may have owed something to his teacher Juwaynī, and he may also have been reacting to the Ḥanafī chauvinism of the Seljūq rulers of his day. The duty, of course, extends to everyone, not just rulers and scholars. More remarkably, he is prepared to allow individual subjects to have recourse to weapons where necessary, and even to sanction the formation of armed bands to implement the duty without the permission of the ruler. And while there is no question of countenancing rebellion, Ghazzālī is no accommodationist: he displays great enthusiasm for men who take their lives in their hands and rebuke unjust rulers in harsh and uncompromising language.

Most of the material Cook bases his discussion upon is taken from al-Ghazzali’s magnum opus, The Revival of the Religious Sciences. Such works once again demonstrate that the Islamic tradition, or great Sufi masters and their masterworks, cannot be the basis for the supportive attitude towards tyrannical rule on the part of a minority of modern scholars.

Modern discontinuities and their high stakes

But modern times give rise to certain changes that also merit our attention. In modern times, new technologies of governance, such as democracy, have gone some way to dealing with challenges such as the management of the transition of power without social breakdown and the loss of life, as well as other forms of accountability that are not possible in absolute autocracies. For their part, absolute autocracies have had their tyrannical dimensions amplified with Orwellian technologies that invade private spaces and facilitate barbaric forms of torture and inhumane degradation on a scale that was likely unimaginable to premodern scholars. The stakes of a scholar’s decision of whether to support autocracy or democracy could not be higher.

Modern scholars like Shaykh Yusuf al-Qaradawi (b. 1345/1926), someone who Shaykh Hamza’s own mentor, Shaykh Abdullah b. Bayyah (b. 1353f./1935) considered a teacher until fairly recently, has advocated for an Islamic conception of democracy as a possible means to deal with the problem of tyranny that plagues much of the Muslim world. He is hardly the only scholar to do so. And in contrast with some of the scholars of the past who advocated armed rebellion in response to tyranny, most contemporary scholars supporting the Arab revolutions have argued for peaceful political change wherever possible. They have advocated for peaceful protest in opposition to tyranny. Where this devolved into violence in places like Libya, Syria, and Yemen, this was generally because of the disproportionately violent responses of regimes to peaceful protests.

Shaykh Hamza on the nature of government

For Shaykh Hamza, the fault here appears to lie with the peaceful protestors for provoking these governments to crush them. Such a conception of the dynamics of protest appears to assume that the autocratic governmental response to this is a natural law akin to cause and effect. The logic would seem to be: if one peacefully calls for reform and one is murdered in cold blood by a tyrannical government, then one has only oneself to blame. Governments, according to this viewpoint, have no choice but to be murderous and tyrannical. But in an age in which nearly half of the world’s governments are democracies, however flawed at times, why not aspire to greater accountability and less violent forms of governance than outright military dictatorship?

Rather than ask this question, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf appears to be willing to defend autocracy no matter what they do on the grounds that government, in principle, is what is at stake. Indeed, in defending government as necessary and a blessing, he rhetorically challenges his critics to “ask the people of Libya whether government is a blessing; ask the people of Yemen whether government is a blessing; ask the people of Syria whether government is a blessing?” The tragic irony of such statements is that these countries have, in part, been destroyed because of the interventions of a government, one for which Shaykh Hamza serves as an official, namely the UAE. This government has one of the most aggressive foreign policies in the region and has been instrumental in the failure of representative governments and the survival of tyrannical regimes throughout the Middle East.

Where do we go from here?

In summary, Shaykh Hamza’s critics are not concerned that he is “supporting governments,” rather they are concerned that for the last few years, he has found himself supporting bad government and effectively opposing the potential for good government in a region that is desperately in need of it. And while he may view himself as, in fact, supporting stability in the region by supporting the UAE, such a view is difficult if not impossible to reconcile with the evidence. Given his working relationship with the UAE government, perhaps Shaykh Hamza could use his position to remind the UAE of the blessing of government in an effort to stop them from destroying the governments in the region through proxy wars that result in death on an epic scale. If he is unable to do this, then the most honourable thing to do under such circumstances would be to withdraw from such political affiliations and use all of his influence and abilities to call for genuine accountability in the region in the same way that he is currently using his influence and abilities to provide cover, even if unwittingly, for the UAE’s oppression.

And Allah knows best.

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Can Women Attend The Burial Of The Deceased?

A short survey on what leading scholars and the four schools of law (madhhabs) have to say on the issue

Dr Usaama al-Azami

Quran at graveyard, woman attend burial

A few weeks ago, my brother passed away, may Allah have mercy on his soul. By Allah’s grace, his funeral was well-attended by many friends, relatives, and students of his, including a number of women. In this context, someone asked me about the Sharia’s guidance regarding women attending the burial of the deceased, and in what follows I consider what leading scholars and the four schools of law (madhhabs) have to say on the issue. The short survey below is by no means exhaustive, something that will need to be left for a much longer piece, but I hope it can be considered representative for the purposes of a general readership.

This is not a fatwa, but rather a brief outline of what past scholars have argued to be the case with some suggestions as to how this might be understood in modern times. Finally, I should note that this is a discussion about accompanying the deceased to their final resting place (ittiba‘/tashyi‘ al-jinaza) after the conducting of funeral prayers (salat al-janaza). Accompanying the deceased on the part of women is considered more contentious than simply attending the funeral prayer, so in general, jurists who permit such accompaniment would allow for attending the prayer, while jurists who do not permit accompaniment of the deceased may be more reluctant to permit prayer. Whatever the specific cases may be, I do not go into this discussion below.

Key positions and evidence

In brief, I have been able to discern three general positions regarding women accompanying the deceased until they are buried: 1. A clear majority of scholars indicate that women are permitted to attend the burial of the deceased, but it is generally discouraged (makruh). 2. Some scholars permitted elderly women’s attendance of the burial unconditionally. 3. Others prohibited all women’s attendance unconditionally.

Overall, it is clear that most schools have permitted women’s attendance of burial, with most of these scholars discouraging it for reasons we shall consider below. The notion that women should not attend the burial of the deceased will thus clearly be shown to be a minority position in the tradition, past and present. Being a minority position does not mean it cannot be practiced, as we will consider in due course. The evidence from the Sunnah is the main legal basis for the ruling, and I shall now consider the most authentic hadiths on the matter.

The general rule for legal commands is that they apply to both genders equally. Accordingly, in a hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) strongly encouraged attending the burial of the deceased. That the ruling for women would be one of discouragement (karaha) rather than of encouragement (istihbab) would thus necessarily arise from countervailing evidence. This may be found in another hadith narrated by both of the earlier authorities. This short hadith is worth quoting in full:

(متفق عليه) قالت أم عطية: نهينا عن اتباع الجنائز، ولم يعزم علينا

In translation, this reads: Umm ‘Atiyya said, “We were prohibited from following the funeral procession, but it was not insisted upon.”

Interpreting the evidence

The Sharia’s ruling on this matter hinges on how this hadith is understood. On this point, scholars of various schools have adopted a range of positions as outlined earlier. But on the specifics of how the wording of the hadith should be understood, it is worth considering the reading of one of the towering figures of hadith studies, Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (d. 852/1449). In his authoritative commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari entitled Fath al-Bari, he glosses the phrase in the aforementioned hadith “but it was not insisted upon” as meaning, “the prohibition was not insisted upon.” He adds: “It is as though she is saying: ‘it was discouraged for us to follow the funeral procession, without it being prohibited.’”

The hadith has, however, been interpreted in various ways by the schools of law. A useful summary of these interpretations may be found in encyclopedic works of fiqh written in recent decades. In his al-Fiqh al-Islami wa-Adillatuhu, the prolific Syrian scholar Wahba al-Zuhayli (d. 1436/2015) notes (on p. 518) that the majority of jurists consider women’s joining the funeral procession to be mildly discouraged (makruh tanzihi) on the basis of the aforementioned hadith of Umm ‘Atiyya. However, he adds, the Hanafis have historically considered it prohibitively discouraged (makruh tahrimi) on the basis of another hadith in which the Prophet reportedly told a group of women who were awaiting a funeral procession, “Return with sins and without reward.”

Al-Zuhayli inclines towards this ruling despite noting in a footnote that the hadith he has just mentioned is weak (da‘if) in its attribution to the Prophet. However, he also adds that the Malikis permitted elderly women to attend the burial of the deceased unconditionally, and also young women from whom no fitna was feared. What constitutes fitna is not generally specified in these discussions and perhaps needs further study, but one contemporary Hanafi defines it as “intermingling with the opposite sex,” and thus suggests that where there is no such intermingling between members of the opposite sex, it is permissible for young women to attend funerals and burials.

Another valuable encyclopedic source for learning about the juristic rulings of various schools and individual scholars is the important 45-volume al-Mawsu‘a al-Fiqhiyya compiled by a team of scholars and published by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Endowments a quarter of a century ago. In its section on this issue, it notes that the Hanafis prohibitively discourage women’s attendance of the funeral procession, the Shafi‘is mildly discourage it, the Malikis permit it where there is no fear of fitna, and the Hanbalis mildly discourage it. The reasoning behind these positions may be found in the Arabic original, and ought to be made available in English by Muslims in the West investing in translating such voluminous works into English.

From the above, we may gather that of the four schools, only the pre-modern Hanafis prohibit women’s attendance of funeral processions. I have already indicated one example of a modern Hanafi who moves closer to the position of the less restrictive schools in this issue, but it is worth highlighting another. Shaykh Nur al-Din ‘Itr (b. 1355/1937), one of the greatest Hanafi hadith experts alive today, in his commentary on the hadith of Umm ‘Atiyya writes that the report indicates that women’s attending a funeral procession is only mildly discouraged (makruh tanzihi). Additionally, in a footnote, he criticises a contemporary who interprets the hadith as indicating prohibition and then proceeds to cite the less restrictive Maliki position with apparent approval.

The fiqh of modernity

In none of the above am I necessarily arguing that one of these positions is stronger than the other. I present these so that people may be familiar with the range of opinions on the matter in the Islamic tradition. However, this range also indicates the existence of legitimate difference of opinion that should prevent holders of one position from criticising those who follow one of the legitimate alternatives with the unfounded charge that they are not following the Qur’an and Sunna.

Furthermore, there are often interesting assumptions embedded in the premodern juristic tradition which modern Muslims find themselves out of step with, such as the assumption that women should generally stay at home. This is clearly an expectation in some of the fiqh literature, and in modern times, we sometimes find that this results in incoherent legal positions being advocated in Muslim communities. We find, for example, that in much of the premodern fiqh literature, Hanafis prohibit women from attending the mosque for fear of fitna, while we live in times in which women frequently work outside the home. As one of my teachers in fiqh, the Oxford-based Hanafi jurist Shaykh Mohammad Akram Nadwi, once remarked in class, is it not absurd for a scholar to prohibit women from attending the mosque for fear of fitna while none of these scholars would prohibit a woman from going to a mall/shopping centre?

This underlines the need for balanced fiqh that is suited to our times, one that allows both men and women to participate in spiritually elevated activities, such as going to the mosque and attending funerals while observing the appropriate Islamic decorum, so that the rest of their lives may be inspired by such actions. The answer to modernity’s generalised spiritual malaise is not the shutting out of opportunities for spiritual growth, but rather its opposite. This will only come about when Muslims, individually and communally, invest more of their energy in reflecting on how they can faithfully live according to the Qur’an and Sunna in contexts very different to those in which the ulama of past centuries resided.

And God knows best.

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FUT2 Variants Confer Susceptibility to Familial Otitis Media

Researchers have found multiple genetic variants within the FUT2 gene that makes some people especially susceptible to middle ear infections. Middle ear infections are very common in kids. By the time they are 1-year-old around half of the fever, ear pain or pus/fluid in the middle ear due to infection.

Some of these infections may recur or become chronic thus requiring surgery. The FUT2 gene is expressed in the salivary gland, colon, and lungs but its expression in the middle ear has not been previously reported.

They discovered the role of the gene in the middle ear infections or otitis media by initially examining DNA samples from 609 multi-ethnic families with the condition. The found common variants of the gene in Filipinos and South Asians and to variant associated with recurrent middle ear infections in European-American children.

The most common variant occurs in 30-50% of individuals in almost all population groups except East Asians. A number of things predispose people to get these infections including a lack of vaccinations, lack of breastfeeding and being around smoking caregivers.

But even in the best case scenario, recurrent or chronic middle ear infections still happen in some kids, which may be due to genetic predisposition. Those who possessed the genetic variants had a much higher chance of getting the infection.

Middle Ear

The researchers believe the gene modifies the microbiome of the middle ear in a way that makes it more susceptible to infection by specific bacteria. If you have these mutations, you will have a slightly different microbiota which could raise the risk of disease.

The finding could eventually lead to new ways of determining who is likely to get the infection. The study confirmed the expression of FUT2 in the middle ear which is spiked within 24 hours of bacterial infection.

But the FUT2 genetic variants decrease presentation of Antigen used by bacteria to gain access to the middle ear lining. That causes a decrease in some bacteria while boosting the numbers of bacteria known to play a role in chronic or recurrent disease.

The frequency of population-specific FUT2 variants makes this gene a potential target for preventative screening and future treatments for otitis media, including modulation of the middle ear microbiome.


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Personal Cherry Picker

Fleur wants things that are put out of her reach. She often comes to me to ask my help in picking her up to get closer to them. Most commonly, she wants to look at the photographs on the mantle. She usually does this when we are home alone and points and says, “Mama!” (I much prefer this to her screaming.)

She also wants to be lifted closer to the pottery collection.

The bathroom counter with Mama’s lotions, hair clips, and other tools of the beauty trade is another destination.

All these directing to someplace is where pointing often comes into play.

Impatience about not getting to touch above things is where the Daredevil climbing comes into play.

Study: Does the name say it all? Investigating phoneme-personality sound symbolism in first names.

air analogue black and white business

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This caught my interest as having a non-cultural name, it stands out. My racial background stands out. In naming Fleur, we wanted something that stood out but wasn’t so strange as to be offputting.

We use a variety of techniques to make sounds that are used to comprise noises. A sonorant has a continuous free-flow tone and is like a vowel or /m/ or /l/ -like sound.

Apparently, certain sounds are associated with certain kinds of things called “sound symbolism.” This is interesting because maybe certain things have certain names not because the name has been passed down through generations but because our brain gravitates to the sounds for the name.

This paper is a look at associations related to phonemes and first names and personality. This sounds kind of astrological to me. The good news they are using Big Five + Honesty-Humility not MBTI.

  1. Participants chose a name containing sonorant or voiceless stops for specific personality traits. Given the this or that, it reveals leanings of a forced binary choice, one of the failings of MBTI. There is no option for a neutral feeling, which might be the most likely choice. Names with sonorants were judged to belong to people who are higher on Emotionality, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness.
  2. In the next experiment, they presented a single name at a time and used a Likert scale to measure the responses. The effect was still present.
  3. In the third experiment, they had people take the HEXACO personality test, then compared to the phonetic transcription of their name. They didn’t find much of a relationship.
  4. They moved sounds around to make up names. This eliminates the possible associations with real people as a possible confound. The effect persisted only now Honesty-Humility showed up as higher and Extraversion lower.
  5. In the final experiment, they were looking to remove likability as a confound.

Sidhu, D. M., Deschamps, K., Bourdage, J. S., & Pexman, P. M. (2019). Does the name say it all? Investigating phoneme-personality sound symbolism in first names. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(9), 1595-1614

woman in black top and blue shorts on stone under blue sky

Photo by Tembela Bohle on

This kid has a serious dopamine addiction. Fleur climbed before she walked. She always wants to get as high as possible on her own, but she will also resort to help. (I am her personal cherry picker.) Putting things out of her reach just changes the goal setting.

From a couple months ago in “the dolphin squeal“:

I am finding the kiddo is a daredevil. Things I kind of expected to be shocking and make her scared don’t. She instead lets out a squeal and wants more. Greaaaaaaaaaaat. Dopamine addict.

I blame myself. I encouraged her to love the ceiling fans when she was immobile. There was a song I’d sing which would get her to look at them. When she started to develop the grasping skill, I encouraged her to pull the fans’ chain by holding her up near it. Now that she is both walking and climbing, she has a lot of fascination getting into things by climbing up on them.

I also encouraged her to safely slide off the bed, recliner, and couch back when she was crawling. I feared her falling off them, so I wanted her to do them in a safe way. From there, it was an easy reverse to climb up them.

She can get on the ottoman from which to jump onto the couch. She loves the rush of jumping across the gap. And can clear a couple feet now, but as the distance grows she pauses a bit longer. And falling has ZERO impact on this behavior. It may have something to do with the MORE intense laughter at a near miss. Hard thunks get a good cry, but as soon as she is comforted, she wants back at it with more determination. Warnings get a dubious or defiant look.

This girl will climb up on the couches, end tables, and coffee table. She really wants to climb the baby gates and entertainment center and crib walls. It is only a matter of time before she starts moving things to help boost her. We already are in the realm of needing to have eyes on her at all times.

331117789_49546b992a_zPeople smile at my daughter. She is generally pretty friendly, smiley, and trés adorable.

But, there are certain women who seem to study her more than everyone else. They track her and place their hand on their protruding belly. My wife did the same thing while carrying Fleur. Though, she was far more open about telling people we were expecting and that is why she was staring at their child.

I hope she brings special joy in anticipating how their own child will behave.

Of course, I thought of writing this post when she was particularly challenged. This woman’s smile changed to what I think was determination that their child would not behave this way. It made me smile at her sweet summer child thinking.

Study: Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies

book shelves book stack bookcase books

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Scholarly culture theory highlights book-oriented socialization, indicated by adolescents’ home library size, as a source of cognitive competencies, skills and knowledge that are valued not only in formal education but also by employers in different places and historical periods. Scholarly culture does not comprise arbitrary cultural signals that identify elite members and earmark them for privileged positions in society: it enhances performance and as such it is valued in various historical circumstances and by modest families as well as the elite.

Growing up, I was surrounded by books. My mother had well over a thousand. As did I by the time I graduated high school. We also spent time at the public, K-12 school, and university libraries. Naturally, my first job was in a library. And, it is only a quirk of luck that I am not a librarian instead of a technologist. Well, an automation librarian. Fleur already has over a couple hundred books.

The study specifically has adults reach back into their memory and recall how many books they had. I worry about this kind of self-reporting because people use books as status symbol might inflate the number.

But, books in the home (as recalled from memory) as an adolescent, the level of literacy, numeracy, and technology skills grew up until about 350. Beyond that, there were not great gains. This seems like another of those Goldilocks things were there is great effect but only to a point. The gains are best from a handful to 80 but still good up until about 350.

In the cohort, people who were between 25 and 65 years of age between 2011 and 2015, grew up with hardly any books, and managed to finish only lower secondary school (9 years) typically performed in the literacy test at about −0.55 of a standard deviation below the mean. Their counterparts with university degrees had roughly average literacy levels (0.00). The same level of literacy was achieved by people who were surrounded by many books in adolescence but whose schooling ended in Year 9 (0.02). So, literacy-wise, bookish adolescence makes up for a good deal of educational advantage.

The effects are seen across culturally diverse countries.

I wonder though, if a robust library system affects how many books a household might have? I feel like we were an aberration for both having thousands of books and spending lots of time in libraries. Perhaps countries or even cities with easy access to books in libraries mean families invest less in personal collections but yet still adhere to scholarly culture?

But, my confirmation bias is excited about this study as it means my intention to surround Fleur with books, read with her, and foster a love of books & research is on the right track.

Got to this study by reading the Smithsonian’s Growing Up Surrounded by Books Could Have Powerful, Lasting Effect on the Mind.

Joanna SikoraM. D. R. EvansJonathan Kelley. (2019). Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies. Social Science Research, Volume 77, January 2019, Pages 1-15.

Shocked, I tell you, shocked!

Whenever there is an interesting noise, Fleur looks to someone else and does the shocked expression. Raised eyebrows and narrows the lips. Then she turns that into a smile into a smile when I make the “Whaaaaa?” sound.

She does this to loud trucks, someone opening the door, noises from another room, and (of course, my personal favorite) farts.

The world should probably be terrified that she acquires my sense of humor. Early signs tells me we are going to have a lot of fun.

Defiance of parental authority leads to success?

toddler with red adidas sweat shirt

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Fleur pauses if you say, “Careful!” She complies with commands to help, but… only if she wants to do so. If she does not, then she just continues on with what she wants and ignores my presence. When it gets to her, the babbling back, though, is too utterly cute because it feels like I know what she is saying even though she cannot yet say it. We call this her being “strong-willed.”

A while ago, I noticed articles claiming that strong-willed children are more successful according to science. Intending to bookmark one to remind myself that I want this in my child any time I feel frustrated about this behavior, I found they linked to the actual study which is not behind a paywall.

Spengler, Marion & Brunner, Martin & Damian, Rodica & Lüdtke, Oliver & Martin, Romain & Roberts, Brent. (2015). Student Characteristics and Behaviors at Age 12 Predict Occupational Success 40 Years Later Over and Above Childhood IQ and Parental Socioeconomic Status. Developmental psychology. 51. 10.1037/dev0000025.

Note that this study is using income for occupational success, is longitudinal, and is somewhat self-reported. I do wonder if being willing to admit to “rule breaking and defiance of parental authority” in a study makes a difference to who gets rated strong in that measure. Like, they are so defiant that they are essentially bragging to authorities about doing so. Also, the people talking about their strong-willed kids have toddlers. The study they cite looks at pre-teenagers. Lots of behaviors at ages 2 or 5 or even 8 don’t persist to age 12.

That said, I was pretty defiant of adult authority in school. It did persist from elementary through high school. I guess I can only hope that Fleur keeps it up? That won’t stop me from having her do what I want her to do. I just perhaps might be a bit proud of her doing it.

Also, the article basically seems to be saying that after controlling for IQ, parental socio-economic status, and educational attainment, this rule breaking and defiance of parental authority seemed to be the best predictor of higher income. But, they admit that they don’t really have a good, non-ad hoc explanation so the causality needs to be explored. (Basically, don’t train your kid to have these behaviors until psychology understands why.)


Articulation Disorders: The atypical production of speech sounds characterized by substitutions, omissions, additions or distortions that may interfere with intelligibility.

Auditory Processing Disorders: In its very broadest sense, APD refers to how the central nervous system (CNS) uses auditory information. However, the CNS is vast and also is responsible for functions such as memory, attention, and language, among others. APD is an auditory deficit that is not the result of other higher-order cognitive, language, or related disorder.

Augmentative/alternative communication (AAC): Systems attempt to compensate and facilitate, temporarily or permanently, for the impairment and disability patterns of individuals with severe expressive and/ or language comprehension disorders. Augmentative/alternative communication may be required for individuals demonstrating impairments in gestural, spoken, and/or written modalities.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Autism is a developmental disability. Children with autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD, have social, communication and language problems. They also have restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, such as flipping objects, echolalia, or excessive smelling or touching of objects. Autism may be mild or severe. All children with autism don't have the exact same difficulties.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): Is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.

Expressive and Receptive Language Disorders: When a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings completely (expressive language), then he or she has a language disorder.

Intellectual Disability(ID): ID is characterized by a) significant limitations in intellectual functioning (e.g., reasoning, learning, and problem solving); b) significant limitations in adaptive behavior (i.e., conceptual, social, and practical skills in everyday life); and c) onset in childhood (before the age of 18 years; American Association on Intellecutal and Developmental Disabilities [AAIDD, 2013]).

Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS): PECS was developed in 1985 as a unique augmentative/alternative communication intervention package for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and related developmental disabilities.

Phonological Disorder: A phonological process disorder involves patterns of sound errors. For example, substituting all sounds made in the back of the mouth like "k" and "g" for those in the front of the mouth like "t" and "d" (e.g., saying "tup" for "cup" or "das" for "gas").

Pragmatic Language Disorder: An individual may say words clearly and use long, complex sentences with correct grammar, but still have a communication problem - if he or she has not mastered the rules for social language, which may be indicative of a pragmatic language disorder.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1991). Learning disabilities: issues on definition [Relevant Paper]. Available from


More than two and a half years into the Trump presidency, Republicans have a tried and true strategy when it comes to dealing with whistleblowers or any other witnesses who threaten to expose the president and his administration's corrupt or unethical behavior. Following the president's lead, they do everything in their power to discredit the individual and destroy his or her reputation, questioning the subject's honesty and integrity, portraying her as a politically-motivated opportunist, and digging up whatever kind of dirt they can — true or not — to sully the person's name. After tarring and feathering the witness or whistleblower in question, they move on to the press and the journalists who reported the story, fulminating against the "fake news" media and the dishonest reporters who would do anything to bring down the president. Finally, if things really look bad, they point to a vast "deep state" conspiracy to undermine and ruin President Trump, who has spent the past three years fighting off baseless smears and treacherous attacks from people within his own government.

By now, this is all excruciatingly familiar, and Republicans are already following this strategy to a tee in response to the latest scandal involving Trump's request that the newly-elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Republicans wasted no time after the news broke last week in attacking the anonymous whistleblower as a liar, a Democratic operative, and worse.

The former acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, opined that it was "a clear example of someone from the deep state" trying to take down the president, while the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, speculated on CNN that the whistleblower was "a Democrat holdover who is trying to destroy Donald Trump," before also bringing up the all-powerful deep state. "You don't think there's a deep state?" Giuliani barked at CNN's Chris Cuomo, attacking the host and his network for unfair and biased coverage. Meanwhile, various conservative outlets reported that one of the whistleblower's attorneys is a "Democratic operative" who worked for both Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, even though the lawyer in question, Andrew Bakaj, was a mere intern for the two senators almost 20 years ago, according to his LinkedIn profile.

On Tuesday, Fox News' Sean Hannity, who has been one of the most vocal proponents of the "deep state" conspiracy theory over the past two years, reported that the intelligence community inspector general had found signs of "political bias" in the whistleblower in favor of a "rival candidate against President Trump in 2020," though failed to mention the inspector general also found that the complaint's allegations were credible.

After the White House released a non-verbatim summary of the call on Wednesday, put together from "notes and recollections" from those who were there, Republicans could no longer flat-out deny that the president had asked the Ukrainian president to investigate one of his political opponents, which he very clearly did ("I would like you to do us a favor," the president said, before asking Zelensky to get in touch with his attorney general to investigate the Bidens). Republican apologists have claimed there is no clear quid pro quo displayed in the transcript (nor any mention of the $400 million in military aid to Ukraine that Trump ordered to be frozen one week earlier), but the intent is clear, and one can only imagine what is missing from the original conversation.

With congressional Democrats finally launching an impeachment inquiry this week, most Republicans seem prepared to defend the president until their last breath, and will continue in their attempts to discredit the whistleblower and everyone involved in the latest scandal, just as they've done with every other whistleblower and witness over the past three years. In response to the transcript, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, remarked that it reads like "a classic mafia-like shakedown of a foreign leader." Remember, last year Trump said that "flipping" — that is, cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence — should be illegal, which reveals the kind of mob mentality that has come to prevail in the modern GOP.

The whistleblower report has now been provided to the congressional intelligence committees and, according to Schiff, the whistleblower has asked to testify and could do so as early as this week. One can only hope that he or she is prepared for the mudslinging vitriol and intimidation tactics that Republicans are getting ready to deploy.


The Breaking of Bread and the Breaking of Boundaries innbundetEngelsk, 2015

This book investigates the Matthean use of bread and the breaking of bread in light of cognitive conceptual metaphor, which are not only intertwined within Matthew's narrative plots but also function to represent Matthew's communal identity and ideological vision. The metaphor of bread and its cognitive concept implicitly connect to Israel's indigenous sense of identity and religious imagination, while integrating the socio-religious context and the identity of Matthean community through the metaphoric action: breaking of bread. While using this metaphor as a narrative strategy, Matthew not only keeps the Jewish indigenous socio-religious heritage but also breaks down multiple boundaries of religion, ethnicity, gender, class, and the false prejudice in order to establish an alternative identity and ideological vision. From this perspective, this book presents how the Matthean bread functions to reveal the identity of Matthew's community in-between formative Judaism and the Roman Empire. In particular, the book investigates the metaphor of bread as a source of Matthew's rhetorical claim that represents its ideological vision for an alternative community beyond the socio-religious boundaries. The book also reviews Matthean contexts by postcolonial theories - hybridity and third space - subverting and deconstructing the hegemony of the dominant groups of formative Judaism and the imperial ideology of Rome.


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Big Data Threat Detection

Using Big Data for Threat Detection

Amit Sharma | Feb 14, 2018

Simply put, big data for threat detection employs the latest big data analysis techniques to make threat detection better and faster. Threat detection is much like solving a jigsaw puzzle, it requires assembling often oddly shaped interlocking and tessellating pieces. Each piece contains a small part of a complete picture. Only when all the pieces have been perfectly aligned, a meaningful image is revealed.

A threat develops through a series of stages known as the cyber kill chain. The most advanced and unknown threats proceed undetected through every step of the cyber kill chain from pre-attack information gathering in the reconnaissance phase to command & control at the peak of the breach. Breaking the attack kill chain requires deep visibility into every activity on an endpoint, including surreptitious activities, over a prolonged time frame. Big data techniques can be used garner and analyze endpoint data to accelerate threat detection. Carefully analyzing large data sets of events, like puzzle pieces, reveals trends and insights that help detect threats faster and more accurately than popular signature-based prevention technologies.

Cybersecurity Kill Chain

 Big Data for Threat Detection Cybersecurity Kill Chain

Capturing the Minute Endpoint Details

The execution of a malicious program or a file can include several actions. For example, the malware may create a child process, delete a dynamic-link library file, change a registry value or change a network destination in the routing table. Threat detection forensic investigation aims to gather all relevant evidence. This requires blow-by-blow collection of activities and events on a user endpoint, spread across various components such as operating system, network, process, memory, file, registry and host.

The richer the data collected from an endpoint, the better the threat detection deductions that can be drawn from it. The sheer quantity of activities generated on end-user workstations and active security monitoring generates large volumes, velocity and variety of data. This deluge of data can overload security tools and personnel alike, but if we utilise big data and machine learning methods all this data gives us an upper hand against attackers.

Big Data Improves Threat Visibility

Attackers invest heavily in developing malware capable of quietly penetrating networks and remaining active inside without detection. Malware authors focus on persistence for two reasons. First, they need time to slowly traverse the network and learn about it. They look for important assets that can be later exploited for blackmail, data poisoning, insider trading or disrupting business operations. Secondly, much like a traditional espionage operation, they wish to maintain access for future exploits.

Therefore, the ability to organize and analyse large amounts of diverse data quickly and effectively is critical to an organization’s security. The analysts working in a Security Operations Center (SOC) need to ascertain the entire threat kill chain quickly, but they often lack the data visibility to do so. Threat detection involves connecting the dots between files and running processes to paint a complete picture of a threat vector, its dimensions of activities and execution into a detailed attack story. The faster the attack story is completed, the faster the threat response MTTR (mean time to respond).

Big Data for Threat Detection Puzzle

Using big data technology to cope with such substantial amounts of data allows us to quickly perform risk scoring, graph analysis, time series analysis and determine causal relationships between entities to assess alerts and determine if they are suspicious or benign. If we couple machine learning and big data, we can sift and analyse massive amounts of data to detect cyber threats in a quicker, fluent and much more precise manner than traditional methods.

Big Data Endpoint Detection and Response

Managing and analysing data has always offered great benefits for organizations of all sizes and across all industries. Performing analytics and complex queries on large data sets used to be very inefficient because big data technologies were not leveraged. Many security tools commonly used today were not designed to effectively analyse and manage data, so it is still difficult for analysts to quickly build an attack story and they are unable to shorten response times.

Implementing big data threat detection tools allows security analysts to piece together cyber threat puzzles faster. Big data analysis tools arm analysts to quickly detect and investigate threats, reach root cause and respond accurately.

Learn more about Cyberbit EDR Kernel-Based Endpoint Detection vs. Whitelisting


TULSA, Oklahoma - Tulsa firefighters battled a business fire just after midnight Sunday. The fire took place at Crating Solutions of Tulsa's two-story building at 5199 North Mingo.

Captain Jason Gilkison, Tulsa Fire Department, said the fire started in and was contained to the second-floor break room and office area. Crews extended their fire attack lines deep into the large building to reach the fire.

Gilkison said firefighters also used up a lot of oxygen in fighting the fire. There were flammable solid materials in the warehouse area, but luckily the fire was stopped before reaching them, he said.

The break room and office were a total loss, but the building was left structurally intact.

No employees were in the building when the fire broke out, authorities say. Captain Stan May said the cause of the fire is determined.


Hinton, Ma, Mahmoudzadeh, Malkov, Fan, Greenwood, Joe, Lee, Kerlikowske, Shepherd (2019) Deep learning networks find unique mammographic differences in previous negative mammograms between interval and screen-detected cancers: a case-case study Cancer imaging : the official publication of the International Cancer Imaging Society 19(1) 41

To determine if mammographic features from deep learning networks can be applied in breast cancer to identify groups at interval invasive cancer risk due to masking beyond using traditional breast density measures. Full-field digital screening mammograms acquired in our clinics between 2006 and 2015 were reviewed. Transfer learning of a deep learning network with weights initialized from ImageNet was performed to classify mammograms that were followed by an invasive interval or screen-detected cancer within 12 months of the mammogram. Hyperparameter optimization was performed and the network was visualized through saliency maps. Prediction loss and accuracy were calculated using this deep learning network. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) values were generated with the outcome of interval cancer using the deep learning network and compared to predictions from conditional logistic regression with errors quantified through contingency tables. Pre-cancer mammograms of 182 interval and 173 screen-detected cancers were split into training/test cases at an 80/20 ratio. Using Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) density alone, the ability to correctly classify interval cancers was moderate (AUC = 0.65). The optimized deep learning model achieved an AUC of 0.82. Contingency table analysis showed the network was correctly classifying 75.2% of the mammograms and that incorrect classifications were slightly more common for the interval cancer mammograms. Saliency maps of each cancer case found that local information could highly drive classification of cases more than global image information. Pre-cancerous mammograms contain imaging information beyond breast density that can be identified with deep learning networks to predict the probability of breast cancer detection.


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Bible Commentaries

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
Acts 11

Verse 1

And = Now.

apostles. App-189.

in = throughout. Greek. kata. App-104.

Gentiles. Greek. ethnos, as in Acts 10:45.

had. Omit.

word. Greek. logos. App-121.

Verse 2

they, &c. See note on Acts 10:45.

contended = were contending. Greek. diakrino. App-122.

with = against. Greek. pros. App-104.

Verse 3

eat with. Greek. sunesthio, as in Acts 10:41.

Verse 4

rehearsed . . . from the beginning, and = having begun.

expounded = set forth. Greek. ektithemi. See note on Acts 7:21.

by order = in order. Greek. kathexes. See note on Acts 3:24.

unto = to.

Verse 5

praying. Greek. proseuchomai. App-134.

trance. Greek. ekstasis. See Acts 10:10.

saw. Greek. eidon. App-133.

vision = sight. Greek. horama. See note on Acts 7:31.

certain. Greek. tis. App-123.

sheet. Greek. othone, as in Acts 10:11.

let down = sent down, as in Acts 10:11.

from = out of. Greek. ek. App-104.

heaven = the heaven. See Matthew 6:9, Matthew 6:10.

even to = as far as to. Greek. achris.

Verse 6

Upon = Unto. Greek. eis. App-104.

when I had . . . eyes = having gazed. Greek. atenizo. App-133. See note on Acts 1:10.

considered. Greek. katanoeo. App-133.

fourfooted beasts. Greek. tetrapous, as in Acts 10:12.

earth. Greek. ge. App-129.

wild beasts. Greek. therion. Omitted in Acts 10:12.

creeping things. Greek. herpeton. See Acts 10:12.

air = heaven.

Verse 7

arise. Greek. anistemi. App-178.

slay. Greek. thuo, as in Acts 10:13.

Verse 8

Not so = By no means. Greek. medamos.

nothing, &c, never at any time (Greek. oudepote) came anything common, &c.

Verse 9

the = a.

answered. Greek. apokrinomai. App-122.

me. Omit.

again. Literally from (Greek. ek. App-104.) a second (time).

call = make.

Verse 10

was done = came to pass.

three times. Literally upon (Greek. epi. App-104. ix) thrice.

drawn up. Greek. anaspao. Only here and Luke 14:5. Compare Acts 20:30.

Verse 11

immediately. Greek. exautes, as in Acts 10:33.

were . . . come = stood before.

already. Omit.

unto = at. Greek. epi. App-104.

where = in which.

sent. Greek. apostello. App-174.

Caesarea. See note on Acts 8:40.

Verse 12

the spirit. The angel of Acts 10:3.

nothing. Greek. mideis.

doubting. Greek. diakrino. App-122.

accompanied = came with (Greek. sun. App-104. xvi).

Verse 13

shewed = announced. Greek. apangello. Same as "report", Acts 4:23, and "tell", Acts 5:22, Acts 5:25.

an = the.

which stood and said = standing and saying.

unto him. Omit.

men. All the texts omit.

call for = send for. Greek. metapempo. App-174.

whose surname is = who is surnamed.

Verse 14

tell thee = speak (Greek. laleo. App-121.) to (Greek. pros.) thee.

words. Greek. rhema. See note on Mark 9:32.

whereby = by (Greek. en.) which.

Verse 15

as I began. Literally in (Greek. en) my beginning.

speak. Greek. laleo, as in Acts 11:14 (tell).

the Holy Ghost. App-101.

on = upon. Greek. epi. App-104.

as, &c. = even as on us also.

at the beginning = in (Greek. en) the beginning. Compare Acts 2:4 and John 1:1.

Verse 16

baptized. App-115.

baptized. App-115.

the Holy Ghost. No art. App-101.

Verse 17

Forasmuch then = If (App-118) therefore.

gift. Greek. dorea. Compare Acts 2:38 and John 4:10.

us = us also.

who = when we.

believed. App-150.

Jesus Christ. App-98.

could = was able to.

withstand = hinder.

Verse 18

When they heard = Now, having heard.

held their peace = ceased, as in Acts 21:14. See Luke 14:4; Luke 23:56. 1 Thessalonians 4:11.

also to the Gentiles = to the Gentiles also. This and Acts 11:3 shows that Cornelius was not a proselyte.

granted = given.

repentance. Greek. metanoia. App-111.

unto. Greek. eis. App-104.

life. Greek. zoe. App-170.

Verse 19

Wow they = They in deed therefore.

scattered abroad. Greek. diaspeiro. See note on Acts 8:1.

upon = from. Greek. apo.

persecution. Greek. thlipsis. See note on Acts 7:10.

arose = came to pass.

about = over, or upon. Greek. epi. App-104.

Antioch. The capital of Syria, about sixteen miles from the sea. Seleucia was its port.

preaching = speaking. Greek. laleo, as in verses: Acts 11:14, Acts 11:15.

none = no one. Greek. medeis.

but = except. Greek. ei me.

Jews = Seed of Abraham.

Verse 20

some. Greek. tis. App-123.

of Cyprus, &c. Cypriotes and Cyrenians.

Grecians. See note on Acts 6:1. Most texts read Hellenes, Greeks. There was nothing strange in speaking to the Greek-speaking Jews.

preaching. Greek. euangelizo. App-121.

Verse 21

believed, and = having believed. App-150.

Verse 22

tidings = the report, or word. Greek. logos. App-121.

of = concerning. Greek. peri

came = was heard.

church. App-186.

sent forth. Greek. exapostello. App-171.

Barnabas. He was himself of Cyprus. Compare Acts 4:36, and see Acts 11:20.

that he should go. The texts omit.

as far as. Greek. heos.

Verse 23

when he came and had = having come, and.

grace. App-184.

exhorted = was exhorting. Greek. parakaleo. App-134.:6. Compare Acts 4:36.

purpose. Greek. prothesis, that which is put before one. The Eng. word is from the Latin propositum, which exactly corresponds to the Greek. The word is used of the shewbread, i.e. the bread of presentation, in Matthew 12:4. Mark 2:26. Luke 6:4. Hebrews 9:2. In its seven other occurances it is rendered as here.

cleave unto = abide with, Greek. prosmeno. Here, Acts 18:18. Matthew 15:32. Mark 8:2. 1 Timothy 1:3; 1 Timothy 5:5.

Verse 24

faith. App-150.

people. Greek. ochlos. Literally crowd.

Verse 25

for to seek. Literally to seek up and down. Greek. anazeteo. Here, Luke 2:44.

Verse 26

when he had = having.

it came to pass. The three clauses which follow are all dependent on "it came to pass".

And = And that.

called. Greek. chrematizo. This word occurs nine times. See note on Luke 2:26. Generally of a Divine communication. The noun chrematismos Occurs only in Romans 11:4. Though the name may have been given at first by Gentiles in mockery, the usage of the word by the Holy Spirit indicates that its real origin was Divine.

Christians. Here, Acts 26:28. 1 Peter 4:16. Compare Acts 15:17. Jews could not have given the name, as Christos was a sacred word.

Verse 27

came = came down.

prophets. App-189.

Verse 28

stood up. Greek. anistemi. App-178.

named = by name.

Agabus. Compare Acts 21:10.

by = through. Greek. dia. App-104. Acts 11:1.

the Spirit. The article shows that this was the Holy Spirit (App-101.), speaking through Agabus. Compare Acts 21:11.

should be = was about to be.

dearth. Greek. limos. Occurs twelve times. Compare Acts 7:11. Elsewhere translated "hunger" or "famine".

throughout = over. Greek. epi. App-104.

world. Greek. oikoumene. App-129.

in the days of. Greek. epi. App-104. A Greek. idiom.

Claudius Caesar. The fourth Roman Emperor (A D. 41-54). Roman historians mention several famines during his reign. See also Josephus, Antiquities XX. iii. 6.

Verse 29

Then, &c. Literally But as any one (Greek. tis) of the disciples prospered (Greek. euporeomai. Only here), they determined, each one of them.

determined. Greek horizo. See note on Acts 2:23.

send. Greek. pempo. App-174.

relief = for (Greek. eis. App-104.) ministration. Greek. diakonia. App-190.

dwelt. See note on Acts 2:5.

Verse 30

also they did = they did also.

and sent = sending.

elders. Greek. presbuteros. This is the first time we meet with elders in the Christian churches. App-189. Here elders included the Apostles. Compare Acts 8:1. 1 Peter 5:1.

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These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of Used by Permission.

Bibliography Information
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Acts 11:4". "E.W. Bullinger's Companion bible Notes". 1909-1922.

Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, October 20th, 2019
the Week of Proper 24 / Ordinary 29
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Falling is the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for older adults 65 and over. Every year, one in four older Americans will experience a fall. When an older adult experiences a fatal fall, it could result in a hip fracture, broken bone, or even a head injury. In other cases,   without a significant injury can cause them to become fearful or depressed, making it difficult for them to stay active and healthy. Some common factors that can lead to a fall are poor balance and vision, medications that cause dizziness, environmental factors such as stairs, and chronic conditions like diabetes, stroke, or even arthritis.

If you have an aging parent, grandparent, or neighbor, follow these steps to help reduce their risk of a fall. It’s important to help your loved ones stay healthy and independent as long as possible.

Enlist their support in taking simple steps to stay safe.
Ask your loved one if they’re concerned about falling. Many older adults will recognize that falling is a risk, but insist it won’t happen to them or they won’t get hurt. If your loved one is concerned about falling, suggest that they should talk to their health care provider who can assess their personal risk and suggest programs or services that can help.

Discuss their current health conditions.
Find out if your loved one is experiencing any problems with managing their own health. Is it getting more challenging to do the things they used to do easily? Is their hearing or vision becoming problematic? Also, encourage them to speak openly with their health care provider about all of their concerns.

Ask about their last eye checkup.
If your loved one wears glasses, make sure they have an up-to-date prescription, and they’re using the glasses as advised by their doctor. Remember that tint-changing lenses and bifocals can be hazardous for your loved one. Consulting with a low-vision specialist can help your loved one make the most of their eyesight.

Notice if they’re having difficulty walking on their own.
If your loved one is showing this sign, then it might be time to see a physical therapist. Seeing a trained physical therapist can help improve their balance, strength, and gait through exercise. They might also suggest a cane or walker and provide guidance on how to use these aids. Make sure your loved one is following their advice because poorly fit aids can actually increase the risk of falling.

Talk about their medications.
When your loved one is having a hard time keeping track of medicines or experiencing side effects, encourage them to discuss their concerns with their doctor and pharmacist. Also, be aware of non-prescription medications that cause dizziness and balance issues such as pain killers with “PM” in their names. Each time your loved one gets a new prescription, suggest that they have their medications reviewed.

Do a walk-through assessment of their home.
Making your loved one feel safer in their own home can be inexpensive and straightforward. Some ways are increasing the lighting throughout the house, making sure there are two rails on all stairs, and installing grab bars in the tub, shower, and toilet. For even greater safety, consider using a shower chair or installing a hand-held shower in their bathroom.


DC urges diversification among Mungwi East agricultural camp farmers

FARMERS from Mungwi East Agricultural Camp have been called upon to embrace a crop diversification in order to improve food security and survive unfavourable weather conditions.

Mungwi district commissioner Joyce Chanda said farmers needed to practice crop diversification so as to have a wide range of food variety and increase food security for their families.

She also urged the farmers to use the correct type of seed varieties in order to increase production and productivity.


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Pooja Grover - Mixed Media Artist

Hi! I’m Pooja Grover…..

Welcome to my studio – my soulful, colourful, happy place!

I’m an acrylic mixed media artist who is passionate about creating mindful moments, spreading my love for art and deep understanding of soulful connections through my artwork. I create soulful paintings that reflect the call of my heart at that specific moment. I let go of my fears and lend wings to my creativity while I mindfully watch its flight that usually takes me to unexplored deepest layers of my thoughts. When I finally splatter paint on the blank canvas, I feel a renewed passion and joy flowing through my veins calming down every nerve of my mind and heart, experiencing immense relief from the bodily pains and reaching a state of meditation through mindful art.

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“Life is beautiful with each moment filled with mindfulness, embracing our own creativity, painting our own Mindful Intuitions.” – Pooja Grover